Method of defamiliarization - SSSS.GRIDMAN

 In the anime "Sword Art Online(SAO) Alicization," we see a story of raising artificial intelligence from scratch and socializing it and letting it pass many generations in the electronic space. Each artificial intelligence is anthropomorphic, and there are the same creatures, society, and products as we see in human society. Even if the setting is medieval and an imaginary creature comes out, it is fundamentally a projection of real society. Otherwise, it will not be an easy-to-understand story. Personification is omnipotent (a good example is  "Cells at Work!").
  In this animation, the events of real human beings happen in a different world from this electronic space. The audience knew from the beginning that the hero traveled from the real world to the virtual one and encountered various events. In this world, magic is a system command. The highest power person is a system administrator. When a system command conflicts, it becomes a magic battle. Therefore, we will sympathize and watch the hero as the human being who is playing the virtual game.

  In 'SSSS.GRIDMAN', society and people in electronic space are drawn exclusively. But initially, it does not show us such a setting. There is a world like a real human's society. The lives of the main characters are similar to ours. "Kaiju"(monster) comes out as an abnormal event of their daily life to the last. Gridman appears when the main character jumps into the used PC (that is, by jumping into the electronic space of their world). We understand that the lives of this hero are real. However, in the middle of the story, we are told that a deputy main character (a classmate of the high school student who is the hero) is making this world comes out, and the story proceeds with that setting until the final round. The main characters accept the deputy main character is their creator, without much resistance. We can not follow it a little. The creator behaves selfishly against this world because it is made by herself. She deletes people who she does not like from this world by letting monsters rampage. The main characters understand that the sources of their creator's actions are due to psychological inconvenience (such as loneliness). They sympathize her and let her return to her world. Because I love you, please do not come back anymore. (Our world is created because this creator is lonely.)
  The last scene is a live-action image. We watch a person who seems to be this creator. Then we realize the world we watched is animation. Usually, we comprehend and watch animation as a reality. Regardless the eyes are big, the balance of head and body is unrealistic, or a movement is against the law of physics, we see them as the substitutes of reality. However, we see live action at the end of this anime, and this animation tells us, 'You were watching just an anime,' 'This is a fictitious world,' 'Didn't you know that?' This way of defamiliarization is excellent.
  As SAO cannot possibly do such a complete reversal, viewers can watch with confidence. These circumstances are one of the foundations of the SAO's popularity. Meanwhile, this excellent defamiliarization may be a cause of criticism on Gridman, unfortunately.

Boys become antagonists - Infini-T Force

"Infini-T Force" is a 3DCG anime featuring the characters from Tatsunoko Production's famous heroes in the 1970s - Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, Casshan, Hurricane Polymar, and Tekkaman: The Space Knight. This anime is a co-production of Tatsunoko Production and Digital Frontier broadcasted in Oct-Dec season in 2017.

This anime is technically the best among the 3DCG animes at the moment. And this is also a memorable nostalgic hero anime for those who watched these Tatsunoko hero animes on the TV in the 70s. Actually, according to the director(Kiyotaka Suzuki) and the voice actor/actress(Tomokazu Seki/Ai Kayano), the main focus of this anime is asking audiences what the hero is in this era. I feel this is a right item to ask now as everything including justice and hero is relativized.

The main protagonist is Emi Kaidou, a 17-year-old girl who lives alone since her father left for unexplained reasons. The main antagonist is Kazumichi Kaidou(aka "Z"), Emi's father who destroys other parallel worlds by the power of an artifact called "Case" to protect Emi from death, as he discovered that in all the worlds Emi is destined to die a tragic death in front of him. One day Emi meets four heroes from different worlds, and finally, Emi and the heroes together fight with Emi's father to stop the destruction and recover all the destroyed worlds.

From Emi's view, this is a story of becoming independent of her parent(we call it "oya-banare"). From Kazumichi's view, this is about trying to make his daughter become independent("ko-banare"). I imagine a Japanese boy who watched the Tatsunoko hero animes in the 70s when he was around the age of 10. Now he is around 40 and may have a teenage daughter. He loves his daughter and does whatever to protect her from any bad or no-good things. However, the teenage daughter does not talk to her father, or even hates him. A boyfriend (or hero) appears, which irritates the father a lot. (Even one boyfriend irritates him. What if your daughter makes four twenty-something boyfriends at the same time?) Finally, his daughter leaves him saying thank you. He prays for her happiness in the future, like this anime.

Boys have become antagonists, not heroes.

(By the way, Damian Grey(voiced by Daisuke Namikawa)'s "Tah-keh-shee" when he talks to Takeshi is so impressive that even when I watch "Precure," I can not stop imagining this "Tah-keh-shee" when Elissio(also voiced by Namikawa) says something...)

Little Witch Academia - this is the animation

There are a lot of things to be discussed about "Little Witch Academia"(LWA) and the anime company "Trigger" especially just after the Anime Expo 2017. And, there may be a lot of people have already discussed LWA and Trigger. LWA TV version is one of the best animes in 2017 spring season(Apr to Jun). If you have not watched LWA yet, I would recommend this anime for the following reasons.

Animation
Originally, the animation is a flip book. It is all about motion. LWA is an anime of running, flying and falling, which is witchcraft of the "animation." LWA is full of amazing motions. Doesn't this anime remind us Micky Mouse or Alice in Wonderland? LWA walks the high road of animation.

Music
Michiru Ohshima is one of the greatest composers in Japan who created various music for dramas and animes. She gives us the main motif of LWA which is very simple but very impressive. This motif encompasses all this animation in various nuance - bravely, sentimentally, and so on.


Story
LWA's story also goes the high road of animation. We can say it is a pre-established harmony. This is a dangerous approach, as people expect what will come next. But Trigger always shows us what is more than we expected even if it is the story we have already known. Such approach can be taken only by the creators who are real professionals.


If you love animation, I would recommend watching "Little Witch Academia," a Japanese "anime" recently broadcasted in Japan. This is one of the best orthodox animation since Disney created their animation 80 years ago.

Luluco and OGIKUBO - Uchu Patororu Ruruko (Space Patrol Luluco)

"Space Patrol Luluco" is anime series by Hiroyuki Imaishi and TRIGGER. I love this short anime series and have a lot of things I want to talk about, but, as you can find its plot, characters and related animes in the official website, Wikipedia etc., I am just going to talk about Ogikubo which is the main scene of this anime.

Ogikubo is an area of Tokyo in Suginami ward. Main train station is "Ogikubo" which is 10 minutes from Shinjuku station by JR train. Suginami ward is one of the major areas of the anime industry. There are about 70 anime studios in Suginami ward including A-1 Pictures, Ordet, SATELIGHT, khara, GONZO, SUNRISE, SHAFT, BONES, and TRIGGER which is the production of Space Patrol Luluco. The main scene of "Accel World," "Hachimitsu to Kuroba(Honey and Clover)" and "Sorega Seiyu!(Seiyu's Life!)" is also Ogikubo.

Let's visit Ogikubo(or OGIKUBO in the Luluco anime) along the episodes.

In the 1st episode(SEASON 1, EP.1), we see future Ogikubo city. Several of the scenes are based on the real images of Ogikubo today. Firstly we see Ome Kaido (a major street running from Shinjuku) over-passing JR Chuo Line near Ogikubo station. The place is close to the place where TRIGGER's office is located. The office is in the building called "INTEGRAL TOWER" which was an office of Hewlett-Packard Japan in the past. This is a model of The building named "INTEGRO HELL TOWER" in episode 11(SEASON 4, EP2) where Luluco and Inferno Cop had a deep conversation.

(INTEGRAL TOWER: May 21, 2016)

 






Luluco also introduces a place in front of Ogikubo station.

(Bus terminal of Ogikubo Station: May 21, 2016)

Luluco runs along Ome Kaido near Ogikubo station with her frozen father ... 

(Ome Kaido near Ogikubo station: July 9, 2016)

(ditto: Google Map)
 

... and she arrives at Space Patrol office in front of Amanuma bus stop along Ome Kaido. It is actually a little bit far from Ogikubo station.

(Amanuma bus stop: July 9, 2016)

 











 

Several of the ending scenes are Kyokai Dori ("Church Street" - the name is from Seventh-Day Adventist Amanuma Church in the Tokyo Adventist Hospital) near Ogikubo station ...

(Power pole beside Kyokai Dori: July 9, 2016) 

(ditto: Google Map)
 

(Kyokai Dori: July 9, 2016)

 




(ditto: Google Map)
 

  ... and a traffic light in front of INTEGRAL TOWER.

(July 9, 2016)

 













The last scene of the ending is a view from an overpass near Nakano station of JR Chuo Line (between Ogikubo and Shinjuku). Sun goes down in Ogikubo.


(Jul7 9, 2016)

 







 









In episode 2(SEASON 1, EP.2), we also see the Ome Kaido near Ogikubo station. Are your aware of the sign "TOWN HEAVEN" along the street? In real Ogikubo, it is "Town Seven," a major shopping center in front of Ogikubo station.

(Town Seven: July 9, 2016)

 
(Near INTEGRAL TOWER: July 9, 2016)

In episode 5(SEASON 2, EP.2), Lalaco, Luluco' mother, shoplifted ("manbiki") OGIKUBO. Actually, as long as we see the scene of the anime, it is not only Ogikubo but entire Suginami ward. And, the tall tower which Lalaco's space ship grabbed is not located at Ogikubo. It is, if we assume from the scene of the anime, constructed in the playground of Toyotama High School:) By the way, Hayao Miyazaki graduated this high school, which is unrelated(maybe) to Luluco or TRIGGER...

=> the shape of Suginami ward: Suginami park map

Ogikubo is also famous for its ramen restaurants. A few of them are introduced (names have been changed a little bit) in episode 7(SEASON 3, EP.1).


(Temomi Ramen 18-ban: July 9, 2016)

(Haruki-ya: July 9, 2016 - under renovation)

(Tabibito no Ki: July 9, 2016)

(Marunaga Chuka Soba-ten: July 9, 2016)

(Ramen Jiro: July 9, 2016)

 


















In episode 11(SEASON 4, EP2), Luluco and Inferno Cop have a deep conversation in front of "INTEGRO HELL TOWER."

(Entrance of INTEGRAL TOWER: July 9, 2016)

We see the entrance/exit of HELL, which is actually the one of bicycle-parking area.

(July 9, 2016)

 

By the way, Ogikubo is also a station of the Marunouchi Subway Line, and the Marunouchi Line's old type of train can be seen in "Kiznaiver," the other anime TRIGGER has created in this season.  
I hope you enjoy Ogikubo if you have a chance to visit there:)


(Updated on Dec. 4, 2016: added photos, corrected explanation of entrance/exit of HELL)

Visited the Seiyuu Museum (Voice Actor/Actress Museum) at Sasazuka, Tokyo

The other day I visited the "Seiyuu Museum" located in Sasazuka, Tokyo.

The Seiyuu(Voice Actor/Actress) Museum was opened by "81 Produce," one of the major Japanese voice talent management groups, on August 8th, 2015. It is a cozy place, but exhibiting many valuable voice talent-related materials, including scripts of dubbing for non-Japanese movies/TV drama and Japanese animes, such as Plein Soleil, Mission Impossible, Gundam, ONE PIECE, etc. 

Japan has a 100-year history of voice acting, and full-time voice talents emerged about 50 years ago. Exhibitions mainly cover these 50 years. It was very interesting to see several original scripts with red lines, notes, and amendments by voice actors/actresses. These are realistically showing the professional works of voice talents and directors. You can also see "Seiyuu Shrine" in the museum, where an old SONY microphone is enshrined. All things can be God in this country!

According to a staff of the museum, exhibitions are rotated occasionally. When I visited, materials related to Miyu Matsuki who passed away recently were displayed at the center of the exhibitions. Although exhibitions are in Japanese only, it is worth visiting when you come to Tokyo. It is near the Sasazuka station of Keio Line which is next to Shinjuku.

Google Map

Official web page of Seiyuu Museum and its Twitter

Article on Seiyuu Museum

By the way, Sasazuka is a setting of the novel and anime "Hataraku Mao-sama!"(The Devil is a Part-Timer!). In the anime, for example, the place where Sadao Maou and Emi Yusa encountered is very near the Seiyuu Museum. (The anime was broadcasted before the museum was opened, though.)

"Gozaru" as a role language (3) - Kuromukuro

In this season(April to June 2016), we can find "gozaru" speaker in the P.A.Works' successful anime "Kuromukuro." Like "Charlotte," the "gozaru" speaker is a younger sister of the main character (hero or heroine), and she deeply likes a specific genre of sub-culture.

Koharu is a younger sister of Yukina, the main character of this anime. Koharu is in third grade and lives with her sister and uncle at the temple. She likes to watch historical dramas("jidaigeki").

Koharu does not usually use "gozaru," but when she talks with Kennosuke, another main character who was a samurai came from the past, she uses "gozaru" at the end of her sentence. We naturally understand that Koharu intentionally uses "gozaru" because she thinks it was used by a samurai.

Meanwhile, Kennosuke does not use "gozaru" at all. He sometimes (especially in episode 5) uses obsolete language, but never say "gozaru" so far. I suppose it was thought that if Kennosuke uses "gozaru," he would be seen too much anachronistic. Although Kennosuke is a samurai who came from the past, actually he pilots a robot. Maybe the character of Kennosuke was very delicate, and creators of this anime thought of the most appropriate language that Kennosuke uses in this drama, which is a mixture of old style and contemporary one.

Back to Koharu's usage. Although she uses "gozaru" as a courtesy to a samurai came from the past (i.e. she does not use "gozaru" as an otaku), we naturally can accept her "gozaru" based on the background that she likes to watch "jidaigeki." This is because a stereotype of otaku young girl who uses "gozaru." Of course, we can not easily find such otaku girls in a real world.

"Gozaru" as a role language (2) - Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken(I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying), Hidan no Aria AA(Aria the Scarlet Ammo AA), and Rupan Sansei(Lupin III)

A typical usage of  "gozaru" as a role language for otaku can be seen in "Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken"("I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying"). Mayotama, Hajime's cross-dressing younger brother and a Boys Love manga artist, uses "gozaru" in front of otaku friends. Mayotama used "gozaru" when he visited his brother's apartment, as he misunderstood Kaoru, Hajime's wife, was also an otaku. Mayotama stopped using otaku language including "gozaru" once he knew Kaoru was not an otaku. In this scene, "gozaru" is used as one of the typical role languages for otaku.

I tried to find another "gozaru" example in the animes broadcasted from October to December 2015. I found only one case in "Hidan no Aria AA"("Aria the Scarlet Ammo AA"). Fuma Hina who is rumored to be a descendant of a ninja lineage uses "gozaru," which is very natural as a ninja (of course it is not natural in a real world even if she is really a descendant of a ninja).

I expected Goemon in the new television series of "Rupan Sansei"("Lupin III") would use "gozaru," but he didn't. Goemon is a descendant of a samurai beginning with Goemon Ishikawa, a legendary outlaw. In the past Lupin III animes, he sometimes used "gozaru." I checked the first television series of Lupin III. Goemon's first appearance is in episode 5. His first line is "Donata ka zonzenu ga, kore wa kyokugei dewa gozaran. Hakushu nado meiwakushigoku"("I don't know who you are, but, as this is not an acrobatic performance, your clapping is really annoying"). So he clearly used "gozaru" in his first sentence! ("gozaran" is a negative form of "gozaru") Goemon's discourses in the Lupin III series are not consistent. This may be because the expected role for him has not been necessarily consistent.
By the way, the episode 9 of the new TV series featuring Goemon is very good.

Back to the topic of otaku language, I have not heard an otaku says "gozaru" in a real world, though...